No biggie...not paid my "Mopar" either for my opinion (they don't pay that
much). ;)
The older Mopar filters were pretty piss-poor in quality. They noticed a
lot of complaints on the initial "tap tap tap" startup and changed the
design of the anti-drainback valve.
>From personal experience with a high-volume oil pump and a decently built-up
engine...i'll stick with the Mopar filter (causes the least amount of
problems for me...and yes, I've run WIX, Mobil-1, K&N, and quite a few other
"Brand-X" filters in my time....definitely stay away from Fram though.)
- Bernd
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net
[mailto:owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net] On Behalf Of BARRY OLIVER
Sent: Friday, November 07, 2003 9:29 AM
To: dakota-truck@dakota-truck.net
Subject: DML: RE: RE: Oil filters; $2 Generic vs $10 Premium
[Oh god, I can't believe I am going to do this, somebody stop me!!]
Sorry to disagree with you, Bernd, I know how much it upsets you when you
feel your viewpoint is challenged. I'm quite sure that all of the oil
filters you have seen have been of the highest quality, and given that you
work for a dealer, you are piaid to spread the gospel according to MOPAR,
but, Er, Bernd, you aren't entirely correct there.
Mopar oil filters, apparently, are made by the lowest bidder. There is a
website that someone posted a while back showing two identical part number
filters as being completely different internallly. IIRC one was
a champion (good) and one was a fram (radioactive orange, awful). I
couple of months ago, my local dodge dealership was moving into a new
building so they had a sale. one of the things they "put on clearance" was
oil filters. They were selling them $3 each or 2 for $5. I had the parts
guy grab all the filters he had for my truck (12-13 or so left,
only) and while he was making a second trip, I got to looking at the first
handfull, and lo-and-behold, I found 3 different looking filters in the
first 5 boxes I opened. The threads and seal matched, but nothing else did.
When I asked the parts guy about this, he said Mopar uses several
manufacturers, but they were all "within spec". I thought I recognized a
rebranded Fram filter in the bunch, and asked the parts guy about it, he got
really defensive and started this "well do you want them or not?" dance...
I decided to pass. Of all of Mopar's virtues, Consistent Quality is not
really their strong point, and my particular dealer, makes me wonder if the
five star designation has any meaning at all, other than just as a marketing
gimmick.
Again, I am sorry for disagreeing with you, Bernd, but if you do feel the
need to chew my butt for disagreeing with the gospel according to MOPAR,
I've got at least as much a$$ as you have teeth [grin].
>>> bernd@texas.net 11/07/03 06:29AM >>>
Look at it this way....pay the little money for a generic, pay a lot for a
"big name", or just pay the $6-$7 for a Mopar filter that's actually made
for our engines (yes...it's actually different inside than the standard
filters). We tore apart five different filters at the dealership (Fram,
WIX, NAPA, STP, and Mopar). The Fram has holes in the top (don't know why
but the oil can go through it - not filtered)...the WIX also has a hole in
the top, and the STP and NAPA filters use a very coarse material (and flimsy
too). The Mopar is a very heavy duty filter with a heavy duty
anti-drainback valve....definitely a higher quality filter.
- Bernd
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net
[mailto:owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net] On Behalf Of John Neff
Sent: Friday, November 07, 2003 3:27 AM
To: Dakota Mailing List
Subject: DML: RE: Oil filters; $2 Generic vs $10 Premium
You guys have just saved me a ton of money. I've always known there had to
be a catch with the Mobil 1 filter. I have three vehicles to keep on the
road and this little tidbit is going to go a long way to cutting my
maintanence costs. I've been fed up with paying $10-12 per filter just to
get one I have faith in. I guess the only thing to do from now on is make
sure the Wally World filter stampings don't change.
Thanks!!!!
John
http://jndneff.home.texas.net/dakota/dakota.html
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